News from April to June of 2002 reported by the Register-News
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This is the second in a series of four articles recapping some of the events of 2002 as reported in the Register-News. The following dates reflect the issue in which the story was published.
April 4
With school board elections just two weeks away, local officials said they still didn’t receive word on an appeal to overturn the reapportionment of the Northern Burlington County Regional Board of Education.
A former mayor of Mansfield Township, John R. Bereczki, was chosen by the Township Committee to finish out part of former Republican Committeewoman Molly Kaklamanis’ term.
April 11
Representatives from five municipalities Chesterfield, Springfield, Mansfield, North Hanover and New Hanover townships agreed to ask the state for a study to determine whether it would be feasible to regionalize law enforcement in their towns.
People in Florence Township remembered Harry "Bucky" Danley, 82, a dedicated worker who was committed to his community and the people he loved.
April 18
Bordentown Regional, Northern Burlington Regional and the Springfield and Mansfield school district budgets were all defeated by voters, some by narrow margins.
About 200 residents and officials gathered at Northern Burlington County Regional’s auxiliary parking lot to celebrate the groundbreaking for the new Mansfield Township Elementary School.
After the Florence Township Board of Education received complaints from Roebling Public School teachers ranging from flu-like symptoms to headaches, the board announced it would release a report on an environmental study conducted at the school.
April 25
Despite several thunderstorms and a handful of rainy days over the past several weeks, the
A ceremony was held at the Mansfield Township Municipal Complex to salute Mansfield Police Chief James Humble and Lt. William Kerr when they shot and killed a military reservist from Fort Dix who went on a shooting rampage.
Officials from the Florence Township School District temporarily relocated basement classes at the Roebling Public School after a small spot of so-called toxic mold was discovered on a basement ceiling tile.
May 2
A curbside memorial of balloons and stuffed animals marked the Foundry Street house in Florence Township where two boys Da’Shaun Slater, 10 and Damonte Bailey, 8 lost their lives in a house fire.
Judge Paul Kramer, who died at his home in Florence Township at the age of 75, was dedicated to his work and to his family, according to those who knew him.
The Mansfield Township Committee voted to approve the $24.6 million regional school board budget without making any cuts to the spending plan voters defeated last month.
May 9
The Mansfield Board of Education cut John Hydock Elementary School’s extended studies program, in order to reduce $100,000 from its defeated special ballot question.
Veterans and their families, including many from the local area, gathered for what county freeholders called the largest public event ever in Burlington County. An estimated 10,000 people attended the first-ever Burlington County Military Service medals ceremony.
May 16
Conectiv Energy’s proposal for a new power plant in Bordentown Township moved one step closer when the Township Planning Board voted to recommend to the Township Committee adoption of an ordinance amendment that would allow the construction of a power-generating facility where Conectiv proposes to build its plant.
More than 80 Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and several dozen adults attended a flag-placing ceremony at the Christ Episcopal Church in Bordentown City, gathering around the grave of Col. Joseph Kirkbride, a Revolutionary War veteran who was buried in the little cemetery off Prince Street 200 years ago.
The Foundry Street fire in Florence Township that claimed the lives of two boys April 29 may have been caused by a candle and was ruled accidental, fire officials said.
May 23
The Bordentown Regional School Board voted to accept a $400,000 budget cut recommended by representatives of the board’s three sending districts. The $23.2 million general fund was rejected by voters by a margin of 39 votes.
A total of 30 panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt were on display at the Bordentown Regional High School gymnasium, representing the lives of more than 560 people who had died of the disease.
The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced that it will be seeking the death penalty for Brian Tykot, 35, who was charged with killing three North Hanover Township residents in January.
May 30
Temporary classrooms at Florence Township Memorial high and middle schools were open for Roebling Public School’s 478 students after the building was closed for the remainder of the school year following additional findings of so-called "toxic mold."
Springfield Township Council members said more information would be needed before deciding how to respond to neighboring Wrightsown Borough’s request to annex a parcel of borough-owned land that is located within the township.
June 6
The Bordentown Township Committee unanimously introduced a municipal budget that would keep the tax rate at 2001’s amount of 43.9 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
Despite above-normal rainfall in March, April and May, officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection said the state has not fully recovered from the most severe drought in its history.
June 13
A zoning ordinance amendment that would allow the construction of a power-generating facility in the southern end of Bordentown Township had yet to be completed, but that didn’t stop the voices from residents who were concerned about Conectiv Energy’s proposal to build a power plant.
Several senior citizens spoke out against a 10 percent increase in Florence Township water and sewer rates, describing the challenges of living on fixed incomes amid constant cost-of-living increases.
Bordentown Township and Fieldsboro Borough announced they would receive a total of $700,000 in county open space grants.
June 20
Citing Democrats who were "interested only in what’s good for them," Democratic Bordentown Township Committeewoman Carol de Groot declared she and her husband, Len, were joining the township’s Republican Party.
Organizers of the first prospective Burlington County chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) were looking to put their roots in Bordentown City.
June 27
A cleanup plan for the Roebling and Marcella L. Duffy elementary schools in Florence Township was unveiled after a spot of toxic mold, Stachybotrys atra, was discovered in the basement of the Duffy School.
An ordinance that would permit a transfer of development rights (TDR) program designed to help shift growth away from rural areas in Mansfield Township was finalized by the Township Planning Board.

